Teen collapses after being cleared of killing man whose girlfriend he'd just had sex with

Karon Kelly

A teenager collapsed in the dock as he was cleared of killing a man whose girlfriend he'd just had sex with during a party at their home.

Callum Hackett had sex with Donna Hawthorn upstairs after being invited to a drinking session at the house she shared with long-term partner David Savage, 42, last September, jurors heard.

Hackett, now 18, was asked to leave the property in Gosforth, Newcastle, after Mr Savage saw him in an "embrace" with Miss Hawthorn when they got back downstairs.

The court heard Hackett left, but came back to the property, looking for his gloves, which led to an angry stand-off where punches were thrown.

Hackett left again, but this time prosecutors claimed he picked up a knife from a pal, which he used to stab Mr Savage, who died as a result of blood loss.

The teen, of Englefield Close, Kingston Park, Newcastle, denied murder, and was tried and cleared by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court.

He admitted being there when Mr Savage was killed, but claimed it was another man who used the knife.

Hackett collapsed in the dock when jurors found him not guilty of murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter.

Hackett told police he had been at the house, where he had alcohol and cocaine, for the first time, followed by sex with a stranger, and that Mr Savage accused him of "messing with his girl", but denied being present at the time of the murder.

He later accepted being present at the time of the killing, but denied involvement in it, and said another man was responsible.